This morning, Premier Brian Pallister gave his response to the Liberal Government's Speech from the Throne yesterday and he wasn't very happy.
The major point Pallister brought up was the lack of funding for healthcare.
“There’s a fundamental imbalance in the current health funding arrangement. The status quo is not sustainable and the federal government, which used to be a 50 per cent partner, now funds approximately 20 per cent of all healthcare costs and without any changes, that divide’s going to continue to grow and the need for quality, accessible, sustainable healthcare will increase. Since I became premier in 2016, I’ve been urging the federal government, as have our ministers, in particular our ministers of health, to become a stronger partner in funding Canada’s health care system. Every premier across the country, coast to coast to coast has identified this as the number one priority, and yesterday it was ignored.”
Pallister summarized his press conference with three points.
He says he doesn’t want to be harsh, but clear that the Throne Speech ignored the most pressing issue for provinces, which is the long-term viability of healthcare.
Secondly, he brought up that in the Throne Speech, Trudeau's address, and the finance minister's comments, it was repeatedly brought up that this isn't a time for strict economic policies, but Pallister made it clear that he doesn't think this is a time for being wasteful in the use of resources either.
Finally, the premier wishes the Throne Speech had mentioned paid sick leave for people awaiting COVID tests and supporting relatives with COVID-19 as he and other premiers had pushed for, as well as the federal NDP's.
Pallister called the Throne Speech a buffet speech, a pre-election speech.
